Accused murderer free again after posting additional bond

Accused murderer Chihan Eric Chyung is free again, having posted the additional $250,000 bond that a judge imposed Tuesday after he was arrested for allegedly making a death threat.

Chyung's bond now totals $1.25 million.

The 49-year-old Norwalk man is accused of fatally shooting Paige Anne Bennett, his wife of just three weeks, at their Norwich home in June 2009. Arrested immediately after the shooting, he remained in prison until August 2012, when he posted a $1 million bond. He has pleaded not guilty and opted for a trial.

On Tuesday, New London Superior Court Judge Susan B. Handy increased Chyung's bond by $250,000 after learning Norwalk police had charged him Nov. 12 with second-degree threatening. Police said Chyung was involved in a dispute over a generator with the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend and that he made a phone call to the man's home saying he was going to "come over and kill everybody if they did not drop the issue."

Chyung was held overnight and posted the additional bond money on Wednesday, according to court records. His attorney, Brian J. Woolf, strenuously denies that Chyung made any threats. Woolf said he spoke to the woman who reported the incident, and she said she wished it had never happened. Woolf said Chyung, a master carpenter, has been living with his mother and girlfriend and working full-time while awaiting trial.

"He's just resuming his normal life, waiting to go to trial to clear his name," Woolf said Thursday.

Woolf said 3-D Bail Bonds has been monitoring Chyung with a GPS unit, and Chyung has been "100 percent compliant" with the conditions of his release. The defense admits that Chyung shot Bennett with his Glock 9 mm handgun but says it was accidental. Woolf said he needs Chyung to be free while he consults experts and prepares the case for trial.

Chyung is due to appear in Superior Court in Norwalk on the threatening case on Dec. 4. He is due back in New London Superior Court on the murder case on Jan. 10.